THE end of Ilkley's recurring gipsy nightmare could be in sight with the granting of permission for a barrier which would seal off their favourite camping site next to the river Wharfe.

Every year gipsies camp on the lay by next to the stepping stones across the river at Denton Road, Ben Rhydding, causing aggravation to residents living on the opposite side of the river.

The gipsies are also accused of leaving mounds of rubbish and threatening people who are fishing or simply walking on the river bank. Although the camps are illegal it has proved over the years almost impossible to get rid of the squatters from the land, which is owned by the Ilkley and District Angling Association.

Now planners have granted permission for a one-metre high and 29 metres long protective soil 'bund' to be constructed to prevent access by vehicles. The barrier will be constructed by scraping together the soil already on the site.

According to a report to Keighley Area Planning Panel, the Government's flooding control arm, the Environment Agency, reckons that there will be no loss of flood storage capacity because of the bund.

The report says that the applicant, fishing club secretary Barry Moore, has worked with the Environment Agency in planning the barrier. Gaps will allow flood water to flow through.

The report says: "The development is considered to incorporate measures to resolve flood defence concerns and will relate satisfactorily to the character of the surrounding area.

"It will have no significant adverse impact on the local visual amenity or road safety and will bring benefits in terms of the amenity of local residents."

Robert Smithson the chairman of the Ilkley and District Angling Association, said that members had been left with no choice but to construct a physical barrier despite the inconvenience this would cause in the popular picnic area.

Mr Smithson said: "There is nothing we can do about it. If the laws of the land had been better we would not have had to go to all this trouble. Everyone has complained about the gipsies down there."

He said that the condition of the land was the responsibility of the fishing club and they were liable for cleaning it up when the gipsies had gone. He said that following a camp which ended a fortnight ago, bags of rubbish and five empty gas canisters had been left in the area.

"It is a real mess and we have got to tidy it up all the time," said Mr Smithson.

He said that people living in the area had also provided some of the cost - believed to be around £8,000 - of constructing the soil barrier because they, too, were fed up with the problem.

"It is a shame it has to come to this, but there it is. We paid a lot for that land and we can't use it when the gipsies are there."

He said that bailiffs, members of the club and people walking in the area had been threatened by the gipsies at various times.

But the passage of the plan through the bureaucratic process was not all plain sailing. Some Ilkley residents had objected to the building of a barrier.

Didy Metcalf, of Ben Rhydding Drive, said she was worried about how the fishing club would maintain the and whether it would become a haven for unsightly weeds including the poisonous ragwort to flourish.

Other objections suggested fears over flooding and the loss of a valued open space by the river.

But Mr Smithson said fishing club members were planning to maintain the barrier in an environmentally friendly way, seeding grasses and other plants. Construction work should start within the next few weeks.

Ilkley district and parish councillor Anne Hawkesworth said: "We would hope it would solve the problem for good. It is going to grassed over - it will get to the point where people won't really know it is there. I know it is unfortunate for people who like to go there and picnic but there will be the opportunity for them to park somewhere else and walk to picnic on the land.